


only wanna be with you

by Smudge



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, a little smutty action for the people in the back, and a dance, but we love them, canon divergent but more if you will, everything after that and lots of before is au, fluffy-fest, idiots in love being sort of dumb for 5 minutes, pining betty, pining jug, so basically veronica moved there and that's it, uhm pretty sure i forgot about canon, veronica scheming, with fake dating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-18
Updated: 2019-03-18
Packaged: 2019-11-23 07:57:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18149192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smudge/pseuds/Smudge
Summary: “There’s a difference, you know,” Veronica tells him, arms crossed as she follows his glare, “in the way you look at Betty and the way she looks at Archie.”Jughead jumps, startled out of his musings, as well as fairly embarrassed that he hadn’t even heard Veronica approaching him. “What?”Raising an eyebrow at him, she smirks at his defensive posture. “It’s a little late to pretend you weren’t watching your Juliet laughing along with the wrong Romeo.”Or, in other words, Veronica thinks Jughead should get off his ass and do something about it all.





	only wanna be with you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SunlitGarden](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunlitGarden/gifts).



> Hello and welcome! 
> 
> Is this a one shot where I was like, hey, let's trope some of these tropes and then forget how to trope? You betcha. 
> 
> You know why? Because I was left unsupervised that's why and I do what I want. 
> 
> Okay, fine. Mostly because I often get easily distracted and then make a fool of myself. Like the time I lost track of the mister, found him, made a dirty af joke in his ear only to find out it was not the mister. 
> 
> But, let it be known, that guy looked like the mister so I have a solid back up if this whole marriage thing ever fails me. 
> 
> Mmmhmm. 
> 
> Read on, lovelies! 
> 
> (Especially if you're SunlitGarden. Since it's for her. Because we love her.)

“There’s a difference, you know,” Veronica tells him, arms crossed as she follows his glare, “in the way you look at Betty and the way she looks at Archie.”

Jughead jumps, startled out of his musings, as well as fairly embarrassed that he hadn’t even heard Veronica approaching him. “What?”

Raising an eyebrow at him, she smirks at his defensive posture. “It’s a little late to pretend you weren’t watching your Juliet laughing along with the wrong Romeo.”

Scoffing, he shakes his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about-”

“Please. Give it up, Jones, you’re about as subtle as a brick through a window,” Veronica cuts in with a laugh. “Listen, you need to make a move or our ginger Romeo, dim though as he may be he’s going to figure out that our girl is a catch.”

Jughead stays silent. He doesn’t want to admit he’d been thinking the very same thing while staring at Betty sitting there, listening intently to Archie with a smile on her face.

Shoulders falling in resignation, he decides there’s no use in trying to hide something that Veronica already knows. “It’s not like it matters. Not if she likes Archie.”

Veronica Lodge looks at him in what might be almost sympathy. “Does she like Archie or the idea of him?”

“How would I know? It’s not like I’m going to ask her,” he replies stiffly.

“I will, then.”

“What? Wait, Veronica-”

“Nope,” she interrupts, waving him off as she starts walking towards Betty. “It’s too late, Jughead, if you can make my girl happy -even with your tragic fashion sense and morose existence- then that’s what I want to find out.”

He reaches for her jacket to stop her but barely misses, his fingers grazing the edge of the fabric as he grimaces at what he set in motion.

 _Maybe I can move to a new school,_ he thinks. _Or a new state. Country? Somewhere where no one has ever wanted to talk to anyone else. Ever._

Watching Veronica interrupt Betty and Archie as she pulls Betty along with her into the school, he winces when Archie catches sight of him, smiling and waving him over. Taking a deep breath, he gives him a tight smile as he heads over to him.

“Hey Arch,” Jughead says, falling on the bench seat next to him at the table.

“Jug,” Archie starts, looking excited, “you’ll never guess what happened this morning.”

Dread pools in his stomach. All he can think about is Betty. Betty and Archie. Archie and Betty. Betty declaring her feelings and Archie being smart enough to realize what a fool he’d be to turn down a girl who’s that smart, that funny, that interesting, that beautiful-

“Jug?” Archie snaps him out of his internal moping session.

“What?” Jughead asks, wincing with how irritated he sounds. “I mean, what happened?”

“Betty-”

Jughead’s head feels fuzzy at just that word. He knew it, he did. He waited too long and now he’s going to die alone, he can feel it-

“-said I can sing a couple songs at the dance as long as I coordinate with the Pussycats first.”

“What?”

“She said I can sing at the dance, you know, because she’s coordinating it?” Archie tells him, looking confused.

Jughead’s stomach unclenches in relief. “You’re gonna sing at the dance?”

Archie gives him a huge smile. “Yeah. Isn’t it awesome?”

“Awesome, man,” he breathes out. “Really great. The greatest.”

“You wanna help me out with my songs later? I really need to practice this newest one if I want to play it at the dance.”

“Sure, Archie. You got it.”

He’ll listen to Archie’s terrible songs all day if it means he’s not dating Betty. Or if it means that Betty didn’t ask him to the dance. Or if it means he’s got another day to think he’s got the slimmest shot of a hope of maybe one day really kissing Betty Cooper.  

Lost in thought about what he feels is a near miss, he doesn’t hear Betty and Veronica walking up behind them until Betty’s sweet voice pulls him out of his daydream.

“Jug?”

“Uh,” he starts, turning around to look up at her, nervously glancing between her and Veronica, “what’s up, Betty?”

“Well, Veronica told me-”

“Archiekins, shoo,” Veronica interrupts. “Girl time.”

Archie shrugs and starts to get up when he hesitates. “Wait, what about Jug?”

“He’s barely human, he doesn’t count,” Veronica says with a sweet smile, watching Archie furrow his eyebrows but leave anyway, telling Jughead he’ll see him later.

“I explained about your little situation. You know, the Ethel problem you wanted my help with,” Veronica informs him, taking a seat across the table from him as Betty sits next to him.

“Ethel?”

“Yes, Jughead,” Veronica says impatiently. “How you wanted to pretend to date me to get her off your back but I informed you that no one, and I mean no one, would believe you and me would date so I took it upon myself to ask Betty to help you instead.”

Almost choking, he starts to cough, Betty’s face turning concerned as she starts patting him on the back.

“Yeah-” he coughs out, “-yeah, uh, the Ethel situation.”

“Ethel’s pretty nice, Jug, are you sure you can’t just tell her you’re not interested in her?” Betty asks, her face still concerned for him.

He’s going to kill Veronica Lodge for this. Or at least really, really glare at her so she knows he’s pissed off at her manipulations.

Veronica laughs, reaching over the table to take Betty’s hand. “We both know Jughead’s too nice to hurt poor Ethel’s feelings like that.”

 _I hope that lie hurt coming out,_ he thinks viciously. Glaring at her, she narrows her eyes back and kicks him under the table.

Betty twists to face him, her green eyes staring intently into his. “Is this what you want?”

“Uh-”

“Of course he does, B!” Veronica exclaims. “First, he gets the rep building he so desperately needs by dating -well, fake dating- the prettiest girl in the school, and he gets Ethel and her never ending bow collection off of his back. He can’t lose, really.”

Another sharp kick hits him in the shin, making him wince at how pointy her shoes must be. Veronica’s smile is strained as she aims it at him, telling him silently to comply. He definitely doesn’t want to embarrass Betty by admitting that her best friend is trying to manipulate her into fake dating him so he can get closer to her.

“Yeah,” he agrees warily, moving his legs further under him to avoid whatever designer shoes he’s being attacked with just in case Veronica gets it in her head to kick him again. “I mean, yeah, that would be great, Betty.”

“Fantastic!” Veronica says enthusiastically. “Now, the details -don’t tell anyone it’s not real, that’s how people get caught. Including our Archiekins. You need to act like you’re dating. Real PDA, Jughead. No exceptions.”

Almost groaning at her, he narrows his gaze at her when Betty’s not looking. “Fine.”

“And Betty, don’t forget to hold his hand around Ethel.”

Betty sighs. “Veronica-”

“I need to go, but if you have any further questions you know where to find me,” she tells them with a smirk, standing up and straightening her skirt. “Toodles!”

“Jug-” “Betty-” they start in unison. Staring at each other, he waits a beat before gesturing for her to go first.

“Jug, we don’t have to do this.”

“That’s my line,” he says, smiling softly at her.

He knows he should stop it, to tell her it’s not necessary. That he’s only sort of convinced that Ethel likes him and if he keeps ignoring her like he has been, it’ll be fine. That Veronica is just being her usual self, that he should come totally clean and tell her the whole truth. About his feelings for her, the fact that her crush on Archie might be slowly killing him but he knows she doesn’t owe him anything and he doesn’t want to mess up their friendship.

He should.

He just doesn’t think he wants to. Not really. But he’s going to leave it up to her.

“You don’t have to do this, Betty.”

“If you don’t want me to, I can -I can probably talk Veronica into it like you wanted,” she says softly. “I’m sure-”

“No,” he insists firmly.  _God no,_ he thinks but doesn't say out loud. He can’t even believe Veronica sold Betty that lie.

“You don’t -no matter what Veronica said, you don’t have to do anything PDA related, I’m sure people will believe it if we just hold hands or something.”

Jughead smiles, thinking about their accidental seventh grade almost make out. “Are you saying our kiss from a few winters ago wasn’t enough to make an impression?”

Betty laughs. “I didn’t know how else to help!”

“Sure, sure,” he teases, getting lost in the memory of that winter day.

_“Why are you eating a popsicle in December, Jug?” Betty asked with wide eyes. “It’s freezing out here!”_

_She wasn’t wrong. There hadn’t been much else in the house when he’d been looking for lunch, the only things available for him to take to meet Archie and Betty sledding had been questionable leftovers or frozen popsicles._

_He chose the thing he could definitely identify._

_“I know,” he told her with a shrug. “Just felt like it was all.”_

_A lie. It was his second one, the first didn’t even make it by the time he reached the end of his street. His face had gotten progressively number as he’d walked, his lips felt chapped and dry as he went to take a bite to show her he didn’t mind how cold the air, his face, and the popsicle were._

_Trying to smile as he pulled it back to show her everything was fine he frowned when he realized it was stuck to his lip._

_“Juggie, are you okay?!” Betty asked, concerned, reaching for the stick in his hand. Tugging on it gently, she winced along with him as it pulled on his lip. “It’s really stuck on there.”_

_“Where’s Archie?” he mumbled through frozen lips._

_“Sick,” Betty answered absentmindedly, staring at the popsicle like it was a puzzle. “I’m going to break it off further up, okay?”_

_Nodding, he prepared himself for his lip to rip off, spine straight as he pushed his shoulders back. He watched as she took off her mittens, grabbing the popsicle so she could break it as close to his mouth as possible._

_It only pulled a little when she snapped it, dropping the broken half to the ground before grabbing a handful of snow to wipe the sticky sugar from her hands before she slid her mittens back on._

_“Can you put the rest in your mouth so it melts?”_

_Jughead tried._

_He tried to push it in, he tried to bite it, he tried to hold it in place until he could get a better grip on it but all that did was keep stuck in place. His teeth and gums were frozen in the cold air and he shook his head at her morosely._

_“Juggie,” Betty sighed out with a worried look at his mouth. “Don’t get mad but-”_

_“Buh wha?” he interrupted her before tilting his head back to keep the weight of the popsicle from pulling on his lip too hard._

_“We need to melt it or pull it off.”_

_“Puh it!?” That sounded painful. He does not want any part of that, thank you. “No. Mehlt it.”_

_“Okay, but remember that you asked for it,” is all he heard before she grabbed onto his face, taking the popsicle and his lip into her own mouth._

_Almost paralyzed with shock as he feels her lips on his for the first time, it’s not what he expected and everything he could possibly expect at the same time. Her lips were cold but soft as they worked against his mouth, trying to free his mouth from its intruder. He felt it, the second it came free and slipped from his lip to her mouth but her lips didn’t leave his right away._

_They stood there, his bottom lip still pulled gently in between Betty’s as neither of them seemed to be willing to break away first when they heard yelling in the distance._

_“Hey!” Archie shouted and they jumped apart, Betty's stare burning into him as he watched her start to chew the offending popsicle piece as he licked his own lips, her eyes darting to his mouth and back up before Archie reached them._

_“What’re you guys doing?” he asked them, breathless from his running._

_“I thought you were sick?” Betty questioned him as she tried to discreetly wipe at the blue stain on her own lips._

_“Yeah,” replied Archie, “but I felt better when I woke up and my mom said I could come if I didn’t have a fever anymore and I don’t so here I am.”_

_“Great,” Jughead said, still staring at Betty, unsure on what to do._

_She glanced at him nervously before she grabbed the sled by her feet. “Let’s go then.”_

“You know,” he tells her, resting his chin on his hand as he looks at her, “you never did say anything after that.”

“Neither did you!”

Which is true, he supposes, he wanted to but he really didn’t want to think about what it did mean or didn’t mean at the time.

“I think that makes you my first kiss, Betty,” he says, smiling.

Rolling her eyes at him, she lifts a shoulder. “Mine too.”

He’s surprised. “Not Archie?”

Now Betty looks surprised. “Archie?”

“You mean you didn’t kiss Archie before that?”

“Why would I?”

“You know -because, uh,-”

“Because?”

“No reason, I guess, I just assumed-”

“Like the time you assumed you could eat four hamburgers and two of them made a reappearance in Archie’s treehouse?”

“Hey,” he says, offended, “maybe ten year old Jughead can’t handle four of them but sixteen year old Jughead can handle at least six now.”

“I bet.”

“Are you doubting me?”

Betty looks at him affectionately. “Doubting your love of food? Never. Come on, we’re going to be late if we don’t move soon.”

Standing up, he almost forgets he’s supposed to be fake dating Betty now. Grabbing his bag, he turns to glance at her, nervous. “Uh, do we hold hands now or-?”

“I think so?” Holding her hand out, he puts his in hers. It’s not like they’ve never held hands or touched before but this seems to have more meaning than the times before it.

“Okay,” he says, intertwining their fingers, “Let’s go.”

 

* * *

 

Fake dating Betty Cooper for the last couple weeks has been both exhilarating and exhausting. Veronica’s admonishments about their lack of PDA had become nothing more than a buzzing inside of his head. If he ever kisses Betty for real, he wants it to be because she wants it too, not just because they agreed to Veronica’s scheme that was most likely totally unnecessary.

Or so he thought.

Apparently people hadn’t really assumed he and Betty were dating, despite the near constant hand holding they’d been doing in between classes and at lunch. He finds this out when Ethel asks him to the dance in front of Betty, making him wish the floor would swallow him whole.

He glances quickly at Betty, whose head is down, staring at the floor when she starts to pull her hand out of his.

“Jug, if you want to go with Ethel, it’s-”

Grabbing her hand quickly, he lifts them up to Ethel’s line of sight. “Sorry, Ethel, I thought everyone knew but, uh, Betty and me? Dating. We’re dating. Definitely dating. Of the going out variety. So, yeah. I can’t.”

“Dating?” Ethel looks perplexed. “Really?”

“Totally,” Jughead informs her, lifting his and Betty’s clasped hands to his lips so he can press a gentle kiss to her knuckles.

“Oh,” Ethel says, looking dejected, “okay. Just thought I’d ask.”

Betty’s eyes had been on his when he was kissing her hand but now they moved to Ethel in sympathy. “I’m sorry, Ethel.”

“It’s fine, Betty, I’m glad you’re both happy.”

Jughead exhales as she walks away, squeezing Betty’s hand once before turning to her. “That was awkward.”

“I feel bad for her, Jug.”

“Me too, I didn’t even know she liked me,” he replies without thinking.

Betty’s eyes go wide. “What?”

“I meant, uh-” Jughead is cut off as she starts to drag him down the hallway and into the Blue and Gold office.

Shutting the door behind her, she drops his hand and turns around to face him with her arms crossed. “Start talking.”

Sighing and accepting his probable demise, he lets his head fall back, eyes closed before looking back down at her. “This whole thing is Veronica’s fault.”

“You didn’t ask Veronica to fake date you?”

“God no, why would I?”

“Then?” Gesturing for him to continue, she still looks fairly pissed. “Explain.”

“Betty-” he starts, grimacing at what he has to admit. If he wants to save any sort of friendship with her he knows he needs to be honest with her.

“Yes?”

“Okay, first, I want it known that this really was all Veronica’s fault.”

“Noted.”

“Look, Betty, I know you like Archie okay?” he says in a rush, trying to rip off the bandaid of what he knows is going to be an awkward conversation.

“I like Archie?”

“Yes, and I respect that, I do, but-”

“Wait,” she cuts in, tilting her head to side in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“Your crush on Archie?”

“My crush on Archie?”

“Yes.”

Betty crosses her arms, staring hard at him. “You’re an idiot.”

“While I don’t disagree with you, may I ask why?”

“When Veronica told me you asked her to help you with Ethel, I -I was-” Betty cuts herself off, looking down at the ground, shaking her head.

“What?”

Shaking her head at him, she just shrugs while staring past him at the wall over his shoulder.

“Betty?” He walks closer to her, taking the chance to tilt her face up to his.

When her eyes finally meet his, he thinks he sees the same thing in her eyes that he knows must be in his when he watches her with Archie.

“You were what?” he prompts, keeping a gentle hold on her chin so she can’t look away.

“Jealous,” she whispers. “I was jealous.”

“Of what? Veronica?”

Betty nods. “You went to her to ask for help, to date her to-”

“Fake date, to be clear and also I didn’t actually ask her so-”

“But I thought you asked her instead of me-”

“Wait,” Jughead interrupts, his confidence falling as he thinks that she was only jealous because she wanted to be asked first and not because she thought he wanted to fake date Veronica. “You were jealous because you thought I asked Veronica and not you?”

“Sort of,” she admits as he lets his hand fall from her chin. “Why would you ask her for something like that unless you like her?”

Jughead’s confusion is almost palpable as he concentrates on her face. “Why would I ask anyone that, ever? Especially Veronica?”

Betty throws her hands up. “I don’t know!”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“You asked her and not me and it made me realize I don’t want you asking any other girls anything, okay?” Betty almost shouts at him, making him take a step back.

“Well I don’t like watching you fawn all over Archie!” he volleys back, crossing his arms, not knowing why he’s feeling defensive.

“Fawning all over Archie?” Betty asks, perplexed. “What are you even saying? And why are you yelling?”

“You yelled first!” Jughead exclaims. “And I’m talking about watching you smile and laugh and, ugh -just ugh- Betty, I hate watching you pine for Archie.”

“I am not pining for Archie, Jughead!”

“See?” He points to her. “Yelling!”

Betty is glaring at him. “Do you even make sense to yourself right now?”

“Do you?”

“Yes!”

“Really?”

Running her hands over her hair and tightening her ponytail, she huffs at him. “I am trying to tell you I like you, Jug, and you’re yelling at me about Archie.”

“What? I’m trying to tell you -wait, you like me?” Jughead asks, standing back in front of her again.

“Were you not listening? Yes, I like you, I don’t want to mess up our friendship but yes, Jug, I like-”

Cutting her off by cupping her cheeks, he angles her head up as he walks her into the wall behind her, almost covering her body with his before leaning down and pressing his lips against hers. He almost backs off when he doesn’t feel her kiss back for a second but the slight pressure of her lips back against his gives him the confidence to push himself gently against her, her arms going around his back and pulling him in.

The softest trace of her tongue on his lower lip has him sighing in satisfaction as he opens his mouth to her, the barest touch of her tongue on his sending shivers up his spine before she shocks him by pulling back and grabbing the sides of his jacket, staring up at him with wide eyes.

“Are you sure?”

“About you?” She nods at his question. “You are the only thing I’ve always been sure about, Betty. Always.”

Yanking him down to meet her as she rolls up on her toes, she kisses him again, deepening it until he groans into her mouth, hands sliding into her hair and messing up her ponytail, catching on the elastic and pulling it out, letting it fall to the floor. Gripping the soft strands between his fingers, he tightens his hold until he hears her breath catch, taking the moment to push his body further against hers as her arms move up and around his neck, holding him in place.

As if she were trying to stop him from leaving. As if he would have even tried.

 

* * *

 

They admit to each other that Veronica’s probable plan had worked but ultimately decide it’s way more fun to watch her frustration grow as they try and convince her it’s not working. They hold hands in front of her, Betty kisses him on the cheek, he plays with the ends of her ponytail, all things that are affection but never cross the line firmly enough to give Veronica the satisfaction of knowing her scheme worked.

Seeing her jaw clench in irritation as Jughead keeps a light grip on Betty’s hand at the lunch table is incredibly satisfying even if he’d rather have Betty sitting in his lap, arms wrapped around her waist for the world to see. He can’t hide the smirk before Veronica catches it, a calculating gleam in her eye.

“So, Archiekins,” Veronica says, leaning her chin on the palm of her hand, “who are you taking to the dance?”

Jughead narrows his eyes at her, wondering what she’s trying to pull.

“Are you asking me to the dance, Ronnie?” Archie asks, looking up from his guitar.

Veronica rolls her eyes. “No. I’m just wondering if you have a date.”

“Not yet.”

“Hmm, you know, you should go with Jughead and Betty then. Like the three musketeers!” Veronica says like it’s the best idea she’s ever had.

_Low blow, Lodge._

“V-” Betty tries to intervene.

“Think about how cute it’ll be, Bettykins, just you and your two Y chromosome besties, like a little neapolitan sundae,” Veronica interjects, her smile vicious and aimed at Jughead.

“I think Betty and I were going to go together, Veronica,” Jughead informs her, trying to keep his irritation in check.

“Were you?” Veronica tilts her head to the side, eyeing him. “Seems like something people who are dating would do and since-”

“Ronnie, I’m pretty sure they’re dating,” Archie interrupts, gesturing to their clasped hands on the table.

“Friends can be affectionate, Archibald,” Veronica says crisply.

“Yeah, but Betty’s, you know, kissing him,” Archie tells her, shrugging.

“On the cheek doesn’t count.” Veronica raises an eyebrow at Jughead. “And besides, it’s nothing I haven’t done before.”

Betty and Archie both turn to him, eyes wide.

“What? No,” Jughead says to Betty. “I have never -she has never- not _ever_ -”

“I meant I kissed Betty,” Veronica cuts in with a lift of her shoulder.

“What?!” Archie and Jughead say at the same time.

Jughead, eyes wide, looks at Betty for an explanation.

Betty sighs. “It doesn’t count if it’s to annoy Cheryl, Veronica. And to be fair, I didn’t even see it coming.”

Pretending he’s not reeling from that information, his hand tightens around Betty’s. A move Veronica notices as she looks innocently at him. Betty looks almost tired by the entire conversation and he nudges her knee with his under the table to get her attention. Pulling their hands onto his lap, he leans forward onto his free arm, trying to look lazy and relaxed instead of stiff and annoyed.

“Run out of guys to kiss, Veronica?” he asks nonchalantly.

He can see Betty hide a smile as she looks down and he slips his fingers between hers as her hand relaxes on his thigh, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

Veronica is visibly irritated. “Unlike you, Jughead, I’ve actually kissed people-”

“Jughead’s kissed people,” Archie interrupts, trying to be helpful, looking confusedly between them.

“His pillow and Vegas doesn’t count, Archiekins.”

Glaring at her, he realizes she’s trying to provoke him into making a spectacle of something he considers private. And special. His relationship with Betty is everything to him and he’s not going to let some scorpion in pearls diminish it because she wants to be right more than anything else.

She’s looking at him in challenge and he looks at Betty who looks back at him with frustrated look on her face. He knows she knows what Veronica is up to. He leans further across the table, staring Veronica down.

“While I do think Vegas is probably a better kisser than you, I hate to disappoint you but Vegas and I have never locked lips.”

Archie laughs, softly strumming along on his guitar as they go back and forth, Betty staring wide eyed between them.

“Oh? You expect me to believe you’ve kissed a real person then?”

“Veronica,” Betty says, sighing, “come on.”

“He’s kissed Betty,” Archie supplies helpfully, still messing with the strings of his guitar.

“What?” Veronica spins to face him. “On the lips?”

“Yeah.”

“When?” Veronica’s eyes are narrowed and Jughead is suddenly pissed more than irritated.

“It’s not your business, Veronica. Like everything else in my life, I really don’t need, care, or want your opinion on it, okay?” Jughead snaps at her before Archie can answer, standing up and pulling Betty with him. Grabbing both their bags in his free hand he sighs before turning back to her. “And it was when we were thirteen, Betty was helping me, she wasn’t kissing me.”

“Looked like a kiss to me,” Archie mutters to no one in particular.

Betty stifles a giggle into Jughead’s sleeve as he leads her away from the table, his arm moving to settle around her shoulders pulling her into his side.

“Was it real?” he whispers, a questions he’s always wanted to know the answer to, something that he’s thought about since it happened, the uncertainty of it all having kept him from asking her over the years.

“The kiss?”

“Yeah.”

Betty stops and looks over his shoulder, seeing that no one was close enough to hear them before gazing into his eyes. “It was real. It was always real when it came to you and me.”

“And now?”

“Even realer.”

Jughead bites back a laugh at her earnest face. “I’m not sure that’s a word, Betts.”

“It’s totally a word!” she informs him primly. “I think.”

“Would you use it in Scrabble?” he asks, amused.

Betty huffs. “Well I will now, just to annoy you.”

“That’s my girl,” he says, pressing a kiss to her forehead before leading her back into the school and towards the Blue and Gold office.

 

* * *

 

The night of the dance catches up with them quicker than they both thought, Betty roping him into helping her set up while Archie practices on the stage behind them.

“Do you think we should tell her soon?” Betty asks, reaching for the string of lights as he tries, hopelessly, to not stare at her ass as she stands on the ladder in front of him. If anyone asks, he’s going to say he’s making sure she doesn’t fall but in reality, it’s both. Her being up there is making him nervous but it’s also giving him a fantastic view of the jeans hugging what he thinks is possibly the most perfect backside to have ever been created.

He knows he might be biased.

He doesn’t care.

“What?” he asks, still distracted. “Tell who what now?”

“Veronica,” Betty says, looking over her shoulder and down at him. “About us?”

“Oh, that.”

Betty’s nose wrinkles at his apparent disinterest in the conversation. “Jug-”

“I’m sorry, I’m not trying to ignore you, you’re just so -you know-” Jughead trails off, eyes going back to her ass, “-distracting.”

He thinks Betty rolls her eyes at him but he’s not entirely sure since he can’t see her face all that well. Trying to save the situation before it goes even further south, he keeps his eyes firmly above her shoulders.

“Veronica?”

“Yes, Jug,” Betty says, reaching to string another loop of lights on the wall, her shirt slipping up to show him a soft stretch of skin that looks like something he’d definitely like to bite, at least once. “I think we should just admit that her plan, stupid as it was, worked.”

“But Betty,” he almost whines, “then she’ll be right. And then she’ll be insufferable.”

“True.” Betty shrugs, not looking back at him as she hangs more strands of lights. “But no more than you ever are.”

“Are you calling me insufferable?”

“Are you going to be insufferable if I am?”

“Yes!” Jughead exclaims, reaching for her hips, pulling her off the ladder with a squeak as she drops into his arms.

“Jughead!” Betty squeals, trying to turn to face him as soon as her feet are on the ground. “I could have fallen.”

“Come on, you were like two feet off the ground,” Jughead tells her, smiling. “It’s why I was so distracted. Perfect height for me to look at-”

“Jug,” she interrupts sternly, “You’re fired, go see if Archie needs help while I finish this.”

Shaking his head, he straightens up. “Nope.”

“No?”

“No. I know for a fact that your next ladder excursion is going to be much higher in the air and I’m not leaving you alone for that.”

“I’ll be fine,” she says stubbornly.

“I know you will be,” he starts, narrowing his eyes at her, “because I will be there the entire time you’re trying to defeat gravity.”

She makes a face at him. “You need to pay more attention in Science, Jug.”

“Either way, I’m not leaving you to fall to your death.”

Exhaling loudly and pursing her lips, she stares up at him. “You are...ridiculous.”

Taking a step closer, he rests his hands on the sides of her neck, running his thumbs along the skin, pleased when he gets her to shiver at his touch. “Mmhmm.”

Her breath catches as he leans down, tilting her head further back as his lips meet hers, his fingers tightening on the back of neck as he feels her hands settling on his hips, her fists twisting into the suspenders hanging there.

“You like those?” he murmurs into her ear as he trails kisses along her jaw.

Her little moan of agreement almost has him bucking his hips into her but he catches himself when he remembers where they are.

“You want me to wear them for you tonight?”

Nodding her head, eyes closed, her grip tightens on him when he nips her earlobe.

“You sure?”

Eyes opening she’s about to answer when Archie’s voice in the microphone interrupts, breaking the tension between them.

Laughing softly into the skin of her neck, he reaches behind her, tugging lightly on her ponytail. “Come on, let’s finish hanging your lights.”

 

* * *

 

When he picks her up for the dance, she’s wearing a pink dress, the skirt fluffing out in a circle that makes him want to see if it can swallow him whole if he crawls under it. The cutouts on the sides tempt him with the tease of being able to stroke her skin intimately while everyone is around but no one is watching.

The wavy blonde hair falling around her shoulders, framing her pretty face almost leaves him breathless. He sees her hair down so irregularly, it immediately reminds him of the last few weeks, the way he pulls her ponytail down when she’s knocking the beanie off his head as he whispers how lucky he is into her ear, fingers twisting around the strands as he tugs her head back to give him better access to the smooth skin along her throat.

Her eyes look bigger, brighter, in the glow of the porch light outside of the Cooper’s front door, her wide smile making his heart skip a beat as he puts the flower he brought her in her hair, tucked behind her ear, the pink rosebud almost matching her dress perfectly.

“You look beautiful,” he says, taking her hand and leading her down the steps and over towards Archie’s. “Fred is letting Archie drive us all if that’s okay.”

Betty nods at him, interlacing their fingers as they walk. “Doesn’t Archie have a date?”

Jughead laughs, shaking his head in amusement. “Apparently he’s decided to go with Veronica’s idea and be our date. He promises not to be a third wheel though.”

Betty stops, turning to him with a confused expression. “How does that even work?”

“I don’t know,” he tells her, pulling her along as they spot Archie standing next to Fred’s old truck.

“You look nice, Betty,” Archie says as he climbs into the driver’s seat.

Jughead holds open the door for her so she can climb into the middle before sitting next to her with a loud cough.

“You look nice too, Jug.” Rolling his eyes, Archie starts the truck, waving to Fred as they turn down Elm Street and towards Riverdale High.

“Thanks, Arch,” he replies, nudging Betty’s shoulder with his own, her smile bright in the dim light from the street lamps.

“You really don’t have a date, Archie?” Betty asks, taking Jughead’s hand with hers, setting them both on her thigh.

“Nah,” he says, shrugging as he shifts gears. “Didn’t seem fair to take a date when I was going to be performing. I’m not going to have a lot of time for dancing.”

“So you’re our date?”

“I like to think I’m more like a chaperone for the two of you,” he responds, giving them both a happy smile before turning back to the road.

“A chaperone? A chauffeur at most, Arch,” Jughead says sarcastically as Betty squeezes his hand gently.

“Are you nervous to perform tonight, Archie?” Betty asks, changing the subject in the easy way she’s been doing the entire time she’s known them.

Archie shrugs but Jughead can tell by his body language that he’s definitely more nervous than he’s going to let on.

“A little.”

“You’ll be great,” she promises, a soft hand landing on his arm in support. “You’ve worked too hard for it not to be.”

“And if nothing else, Betty and I promise to clap even if you mess up,” Jughead offers helpfully, making Archie laugh and breaking some of his tension.

 

* * *

 

Archie only messes up at the beginning, an almost rocky start to something that ends with loud applause and a flushed Archie accepting praise from an enthusiastic Josie. They’d lost Veronica and Kevin in the crowd as they make a break for the hallway to take a breather.

“That was fun,” she tells him, pulling him closer to her as she leans against the lockers.

“You liked that?”

Betty nods, rolling up on her toes to kiss him.

“You know,” he whispers against her lips, “I think you and I can have even more fun.”

“Yeah?”

Without answering, he takes her hand, leading her down the darkened hallway and into the first unlocked classroom he can find, almost spinning her through the doorway before pushing her up against the door as he locks it behind them. Hands in her hair, he’s kissing her before she can take a full breath, her hands landing on his hips with a gasp.

Deepening the kiss, he leans into her as he feels her moving her hands, pushing his suit jacket off of his shoulders and onto the floor and dragging his suspenders down his arms. Her fingers are undoing the buttons on his shirt as his own hands trail down her neck and sides to the cutouts of her dress, moving in small circles on the soft skin he wishes he could taste. As her hands go around his back to keep him against her, his knee makes its way between her legs, pushing up against her as she lets her head fall back to give him better access to her throat. The nipping kisses against her skin have her moaning his name lowly into the quiet of the room, her thighs tight against his leg as he starts to move back and forth against her.

“I think you like that,” he murmurs into her skin.

The only response he gets is the press of her fingers into his back, pulling him even further forward. Yanking on the puffy skirt, he moves it up until her legs are bare against the fabric of his pants, moving against her as she wraps her fists into his suspenders like she had earlier in the day, holding him in place as she starts to roll her hips in rhythm with his thigh.

He can feel the heat of her through what he thinks is the lace of her panties, his hands gripping her hips tightly as he helps her move along, his mouth sucking on the sweet spot near her ear he discovered in the back of the library one day when they swore they were going to be studying.

Almost in awe at the control she’s taking of her own pleasure, he pulls back to watch her face, the hooded eyes she stares at him with as her heavy breathing hits him like a heartbeat as he sees her start to fall over the edge, the breathy call of his name making him gasp with her as her thighs start to shake against his, his hands steadying her as she holds onto him tightly as she comes down.

“That was-” He doesn’t know what to say. It was beautiful. Intense. Overwhelming.

“Amazing.”

“Yeah. That.”

Her hands are moving towards the button of his pants when he stops her. At her confused look, he shakes his head.

“We’ve been gone too long already,” he says regretfully.

Helping her stand, she’s smoothing her skirt as she nods at him, looking down when he starts to run his hands over her hair. She still looks thoroughly debauched no matter what they do and she laughs at his state of partial undress, helping him button his shirt. Pulling his suspenders up, he then picks up the jacket off the floor, folding it over his arm with a sheepish smile at her, unlocking and opening the door for them to head back to the dance when she stops him.

“Jug,” she starts, meeting his eyes in the doorway with something that seems a lot like hope, “you know, there’s a ladder in Archie’s garage that I’m pretty sure is the perfect height for my bedroom window.”

“Are you-” Jughead wants to ask if she’s implying what he thinks she’s implying but he doesn’t get the chance when he hears the voice he’s sure will be part of his nightmares yelling down the hallway.

**_“I knew it!”_ **

Groaning, he rests his forehead on top of Betty’s.

“At least she knows now?” Betty’s voice is hopeful in the face of her best friend bearing down on them, determination steeling her expression.

“She’s never going to let this go,” Jughead mutters, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

Betty sighs. “Probably not. I think it’s worth it, though. Don’t you?”

Wrapping his arms around from her behind as Veronica makes her way closer to them, he pulls her into him. “You’ll always be worth it.”

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> LOOK MAN. 
> 
> I am honestly enamored with my own flashback in this one. It's cool if you're not but I mean, I'll side eye you. 
> 
> Okay I won't. 
> 
> I will cry though. 
> 
> Maybe. 
> 
> But I do hope you enjoyed my fluffy-fest of love for someone super awesome, who writes way faster than I do and also always ends up making me want pizza. Which is rude of her. We love her anyway, though. Bunches. 
> 
> So, lay it on me, y'all. What did we think? Unless we thought it was bad then collectively I vote we only give out free hugs. Nah, I can take it. Unless it's about my hair. That...now that is a no-go topic. I cannot help it that it looks like that when I don't brush it for 12 hours. Anyways, I love you all and besos! All the besos! From me to you and bughead and beyond! 
> 
> As always, you can [tumble](https://thetaoofbetty.tumblr.com/) with me if you want.


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